RV & Truck

Temporarily Downsizing
(Our New Travel Trailer)

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Temporarily Downsizing(Our New Travel Trailer)

We’re (temporarily) downsizing into our new Grand Design Transcend XPLOR 240ML travel trailer while our 5th wheel is in the shop for repairs.

What Happened

The story starts back in July 2024 when we came out on the wrong side of an encounter with a particularly stout gatepost at the Grandview National Forest Campground in Ashton, Idaho. We had some fairly major damage to one side of the 5th wheel, but fortunately we were still able to live-in and tow it, albeit with a broken refrigerator and one non-functioning slide-out.

The 5th wheel needed to be repaired, and we learned that the repairs could take some time (possibly months), so we were faced with the dilemma of where to live while our full-time home is in the shop for repairs. We had been thinking about getting a smaller trailer to allow us to visit some of the national parks and other areas where our 42-foot long 5th wheel is just too long to fit. Although we hadn’t planned to buy one just yet, we decided to go ahead and purchase this 30-foot 2024 Grand Design Transcend XPLOR 240ML travel trailer for our temporary home, and for future use in the many parks that have a 30-foot trailer size limit.

We scheduled our 5th wheel repairs at Trailer Hitch RV in Nipomo, California, the dealer where we made the original purchase in 2020. At the same time, we purchased the new trailer from Trailer Hitch RV so that we could pick it up and transfer our belongings immediately prior to dropping off the 5th wheel for repairs. As we got nearer to the scheduled repairs in early November 2024, Trailer Hitch decided they couldn’t handle the needed repairs and referred us to a nearby RV repair shop in Arroyo Grande.

We had a busy few days in early November when we picked up the new trailer, transferred selected belongings from the 5th wheel, and then dropped off the 5th wheel for repair. We were able to secure two adjacent sites at the Pacific Dunes Ranch Campground in nearby Oceano to make the transfer of belongings as painless as possible.

Why we chose our Grand Design Transcend XPLOR 240ML Travel Trailer

We had several criteria to meet in choosing our new trailer in addition to a target budget, including:

  • Between 25 and 30-ft length
  • Separate bedroom area (with door)
  • No bunks (we don’t need them, and many trailers come with them)
  • No walk-through bathroom (bathroom between living area and bedroom)
  • Relatively good size living space
  • Preference for a Grand Design unit based on our positive experience with our 5th wheel

Based on our target budget and criteria, we settled on Grand Design’s Transcend XPLOR model line (this is their lowest cost travel trailer model) and looked at both the 221RB and 240ML models. In the end we decided the 25-ft 221RB was just a bit too small for us and settled on the 240ML which gives us pretty much everything we were looking for in a smaller travel trailer. The unit comes with two recliner chairs, a dinette area, and a floor plan that suits our needs nicely. One big difference from the 5th wheel is that we have way less storage space, so we had to be very selective in choosing belongings to bring with us. One plus with the travel trailer, however, is that we now have the full bed of our pick-up truck available for storage, which was not the case when towing the 5th wheel due to the bed-mounted 5th wheel hitch.

As of the time of this posting, we are about a week into living in the new travel trailer and we are about to hit the road with it as we travel south for the winter. So far, so good. We haven’t had too much trouble adjusting to the smaller space, and all of the trailer appliances and features have been working as expected.

 

 

Truck Upgrades – Mudflaps and Tonneau Cover

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Truck Upgrades – Mudflaps and Tonneau Cover

While stationary for a month in the Pacific Northwest, we took the opportunity to do some upgrades to our 2022 Ford F-450 truck that we’ve had on the wish-list for a while.

Mudflaps

When we bought the one-year-old truck in 2022 it came with Ford OEM mudflaps on the front only. After about a year, one side had completely torn and broken-off, and the other side was partially torn. The main reason for getting new mudflaps, however, was to avoid the splatter that was thrown-up by the trucks rear wheels and would accumulate on the front of the 5th wheel.

After researching mudflaps quite a bit, and considering both Ford OEM and other options, we settled on the Duraflap brand mudflaps. These mudflaps had great reviews in several forums and were easy to order and customize on the Duraflap website. They weren’t available to purchase in stores, but the online order process and shipping was super-easy and efficient.

When ordering on their website, you select your make, model, and year of truck and then you have several options to select from related to mudflap dimensions and metal weights. The website includes information and guidance on how to measure the truck height to select the best mudflap dimensions. Based on the website guidance we selected the standard length and standard width mudflaps. These give about 7-inch clearance at the rear tires to the road, which drops to about 5-inches when towing the 5th wheel. The short and long options reduce or increase the standard length by 2-inches respectively.

The other main option when ordering is the addition of stainless-steel weights to the bottom of the flaps. There are many options for finish and pattern on their website, however we opted to go with plain mudflaps (no weights) as we liked the clean look of all black flaps with our grey truck. We had read several reviews that said the weights were not needed as the mudflaps themselves were quite thick and rigid.

Installing the mudflaps was a relatively simple process, the most complicated part being the array of metric and imperial sockets and wrenches that were needed to remove and install the various existing and new fasteners. One of the benefits of the Duraflap mudflaps is they are “no-drill”, using existing holes and a combination of new and re-used fasteners.

Based on the limited use to-date, the Duraflap mudflaps get a thumbs-up from us. Initial performance seems good, although we haven’t yet towed the 5th wheel since installing them, so that will be the best test. I’ll update the post once we’ve done some towing.

Tonneau Cover

We wanted to install a tonneau cover to provide additional security and weather protection for items in the truck bed when we are not towing the fifth wheel, and to provide a cleaner appearance for the truck. Some tonneau manufacturers claim up to a 10-percent improvement in fuel economy, so we’ll have to see if that proves to be true.

Our choice of tonneau covers turned out to be limited as we needed a cover that could be folded and left on the truck when towing the 5th wheel, and also work with our truck-mounted toolbox. After researching several manufacturer’s offerings on-line, as well as YouTube reviews on some of our favorite RVing channels, we decided the ACCESS® TOOLBOX EDITION Roll-Up Cover by Agri-Cover, Inc. would best meet our needs. This is an affordable American made product that has excellent reviews. The on-line ordering process was straight forward on their website and shipping was quick and efficient.

Installing the tonneau cover proved to be straight-forward. All the necessary parts and mounting hardware was included, even some alcohol wipes to clean the surfaces where the adhesive gaskets were installed.

Although the tonneau cover install was easy, we also needed to make some adjustments and modifications to the latching mechanism on our low-profile toolbox to make it work with the tonneau. Because it’s a low-profile design, the existing latches on the toolbox were so low that they were blocked by the tonneau cover header bar. We were able to solve this by installing new exterior latches that we purchased on Amazon on the sides of the toolbox and disabling the original toolbox latches by removing the latch striker.

We are very happy with the initial install of the tonneau cover. I’ll update this post once we have some experience using it stowed while towing, and also to find out if we do get better fuel mileage when its deployed.

Purchased 2022 Ford F-450 Dually Truck

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We purchased our tow vehicle, a 2022 Ford F-450, in late November 2022 during the late stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Vehicles, much less big trucks, were difficult to find due to microchip shortages.  While researching which truck to buy, we learned that the 450 had a much better (smaller) turning radius than the F-350 or F-250. After calling various Ford dealerships and being told that there were no F-450s for sale in southern California, we found a 2022 with 43,000 miles on it at, of all places, a Volkswagen dealership.

Our Grand Design Solitude 375RES Gets Delivered

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Can you remember April 2020, when everyone realized how scary COVID-19 was likely to be? We certainly can!

In the few years before COVID hit, Martin had planned to retire in 2025, and we would hit the road living full-time in an RV. We had already tried out the RV life renting Blue Bertha several times at Desert Sands Vintage RV Park in Borrego Springs, CA. We had fallen in love with the lifestyle. To our great sadness, Desert Sands Vintage RV Park has changed owners and names, and we don’t know anything about the new park.

At the time, we rented an apartment in Long Beach, CA, for $2000 a month. It was a fantastic apartment in a great neighborhood, but we had a lot of neighbors who were part of a little drug cartel. This was an expensive condo building, and numerous neighbors were involved in the cartel. After complaining to the condo board, which was controlled by the cartel’s fixer, various homeowners, and the police, we realized nothing would change. Drug deals, drug trafficking, and drug manufacturing were all happening in the unit right next to ours, and nothing was going to be done to improve the situation.

After several years, we became fed up with the BS with our neighbor and condo board, but we hated moving again. We’ve moved several times due to intolerable neighbors. When COVID hit, Martin and I looked at each other and said, “Why are we waiting for you to retire before moving into an RV? We hate where we live and can buy an RV now, live in it until we retire, and pay an RV payment plus lot rent for less than we’re paying for an apartment we hate. Why the hell are we waiting?”

While COVID affected everyone, we were one of the luckier couples. I was already retired, and Martin’s job was considered “essential,” so he continued to work throughout COVID.

Fortunately, we had found a great RV park called Rosewood Mobile Home and RV Park in Bellflower several years prior. We visited the park and spoke to several residents who gave the park high ratings. One resident also recommended the Trailer Hitch RV dealership in Nipomo, CA, north of Santa Barbara. The dealership was about 5 hours from where we lived, so we called and spoke with the salesman, who said they had flat pricing and no negotiating. I said to myself, “Yeah, right, says the used car salesman!”

We had been researching for several years and knew you should start negotiating at 30% off of MSRP. Over the phone, the salesman told us the prices of several units, and they sounded perfect, so that weekend, we drove up to shop for the right RV. When we arrived, we told the salesmen, “We’ll buy an RV today if you have one we like, and just let us shop without disturbing us.” He said to go ahead and come back to the office when we’re ready.

From our research, we knew we wanted a Grand Design 5th-wheel but didn’t know the exact model yet. After a few hours of going into every Grand Design 5th-wheel they had, we selected a Solitude 375RES, which has five slide-outs, seating for six adults in the living room, a free-standing dining room table with chairs, and a master bedroom with a king-size bed. Since then, the Solitude 376RD, which is virtually the same except for having a nicer bathroom, has replaced the 375RES.

We went back to the office and he told us the price and we were floored. The price he quoted us was 34% off MSRP. It was actually 4% below the price we would have started negotiating at. We were impressed and bought the RV on the spot. Since we didn’t own a tow vehicle yet, we had to have them deliver the RV and thought that $500 was a small price to pay for delivery. We went back to Nipomo the following weekend to do the final Pre-Delivery-Inspection and had it delivered to Rosewood in Bellflower the following Wednesday, April 29.

We were very fortunate that we purchased when we did. If you know anything about the RV industry during COVID, you know that RV prices dipped during the initial days of the pandemic. As people began to see the benefits of living in an RV during a pandemic and production halted in all manufacturing plants, prices skyrocketed by 50% in the months that followed. We unintentionally bought at the bottom of the market before it hit new record prices.

Shortly after delivery of the RV, we adopted our first dog, Penny Lane. She approved of her new home and immediately settled in. We lived at Rosewood for two and a half years before Martin retired two years early in December 2022. We hit the road one month later on January 30, 2023. Moving into an RV early and hitting the road have been two of the best decisions we’ve ever made.

Below you will find some interior and exterior photos of the RV and our RV space at Rosewood.

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